A lifetime spent in darkness, unable to bask in the sunlight, could such a man still be considered the great hero who protected the village?
Wearing the Akatsuki cloak, Sasuke felt extremely conflicted at this moment. He hadn't expected that after arriving in Konoha, just by sitting for a while at a dessert shop that Itachi had liked during his lifetime, he would unexpectedly run into this Third Hokage.
A sense of hatred involuntarily rose in his heart. Although he had personally killed Danzo, the main culprit behind the Uchiha clan's extermination, the other high-ranking officials of Konoha couldn't escape blame either. Especially this Third Hokage, the highest leader of Konoha. What kind of role had he played in all this?
In the world he came from, the Third had already died in the Konoha Crush plan launched by Orochimaru. He hadn't even had the chance for revenge. But now, it seemed that the long-lost opportunity had appeared.
Forcing himself to suppress the killing intent within, he continued to ask, "Then tell me, does protecting the village require sacrificing another group of Konoha villagers? Then what exactly is it that you're protecting?"
Hiruzen fell somewhat silent.
He thought this Uchiha was referring to Danzo. Danzo had indeed committed many atrocities against the villagers, especially the Wood Style experiments, which had resulted in the deaths of many Senju clan members.
Of course, Danzo had also targeted the Uchiha quite a bit. Hiruzen could understand why the Uchiha harbored resentment, but he hadn't expected it to have grown this strong.
'So in front of me now are two radical Uchiha?'
Danzo was already dead. Hiruzen wanted to at least preserve some dignity for this old friend. He didn't want Danzo, who had harbored hatred for the Uchiha even in life, to be defamed by his enemies in death. Therefore, he took a tougher stance and said lightly, "This was a necessary sacrifice."
'A necessary sacrifice? Then having Itachi slaughter the entire Uchiha clan was also a necessary sacrifice?'
Sasuke could no longer suppress his killing intent. He faced Hiruzen and said, "Those words, you said them yourself. Do you even believe them?"
At the side, Obito frowned, 'Crap— Sasuke is starting again. This is Konoha. Sitting next to us is the Hokage of Konoha. Releasing killing intent at the Hokage while inside the village, what the hell is he thinking?'
'Didn't we agreed to keep things low-key? Why is Sasuke so disobedient?'
But what was done was done. At this moment, what could he do?
The Third Hokage was momentarily stunned. He had sensed the killing intent this unknown Uchiha was directing at him. He had seen many hot-headed Uchiha before, but never one this reckless. This was a first.
Even if the Uchiha were dissatisfied with him, was this something they should be displaying so openly? Were the radicals becoming too arrogant recently? Did he need to start reining them in?
Unconsciously, Hiruzen began to miss Danzo. Without Danzo, restraining the Uchiha really was becoming a major problem.
A powerful aura burst out from Hiruzen's body. Though this hero of the ninja world had started to age, he hadn't yet reached the point where his physical condition had severely declined, like it had when he was killed by Orochimaru.
He looked at Uchiha Obito and asked a question, "Is his attitude representative of most of your people?"
If that were truly the case, he'd have to seriously re-evaluate the relationship with the Uchiha.
However, Obito merely shrugged and softly said, "Lord Third Hokage, if you think about it from another angle, wouldn't it be better to have more Uchiha like him?"
Hiruzen thought for a moment, it did seem so. Hot-headed fools like this didn't have much scheming in them. At least they were better than those who pretended to be friendly on the surface but plotted behind your back.
But in the Hidden Leaf, releasing killing intent toward the Hokage wasn't a trivial matter. He decided to teach this Uchiha a lesson.
So he said to Uchiha Sasuke, "What is your name? Which branch of the Uchiha clan do you belong to? Who are your parents and relatives?"
"And also, take off your hats. I want to clearly see your faces. This is an order from the Hokage. Refusal will be treated as treason."
Sasuke sneered with disdain. Treason? He had already betrayed the village once, he wasn't afraid of a second time.
But he still took off the hat, his eyes staring dead at Hiruzen. His Three Tomoe Sharingan had already activated.
He said coldly, "Uchiha Sasuke. So, Lord Third, are you thinking of fighting me?"
Sasuke, who had fought enemies on the level of Kage multiple times, had plenty of experience. A mere Hokage couldn't instill much awe in him anymore.
Hiruzen looked at Sasuke's Three Tomoe Sharingan and the powerful aura rising from him, and slightly withdrew his disdain.
This Uchiha looked young but had already awakened the Three Tomoe. Judging from his aura, he wasn't just any ordinary Three Tomoe wielder. Was he really a member of the radical faction?
'What a terrifying younger generation.'
If he and Danzo hadn't suppressed the number of Uchiha being promoted to jonin, someone like this with a Three Tomoe Sharingan would undoubtedly be a jonin, one of the best among jonin, even.
Whenever he recalled that any Uchiha who awakened the Three Tomoe could be promoted to jonin, and that there weren't few of them in the Uchiha clan, Hiruzen couldn't help but feel anxious.
By contrast, the little Obito who had fully grasped the Will of Fire seemed much more lovable.
Hiruzen looked at Obito and said, "Then… what about you? What's your situation? What's your name?"
Obito thought for a moment. He still wanted to avoid direct conflict with Konoha. That would only make his plans harder.
So he also took off his hat, revealing half of a disfigured face.
He closed his eyes and said, "Lord Hokage, I'm just an ordinary Uchiha. My eyes are already blind. Half of my body was crushed by a boulder, barely healed, barely functional."
"I don't intend to be your enemy, or Konoha's. Even if I did, what could I even do? So as for my situation, no need to trouble yourself."
Hiruzen hadn't expected this Uchiha to be so wretched. As a jutsu professor with a wealth of experience, he could immediately tell that this unknown Uchiha's eyes were indeed blind, not an act.
He asked, "How did this happen?"
Obito simply said calmly, "War. The war with Iwagakure. I was on a mission, nearly died."
Hiruzen suddenly understood. It was from the Third Great Ninja War. This Uchiha had burned himself for Konoha?
He suddenly realized where Sasuke's hatred for him might come from.
Looking at the close relationship between the two, and considering their large age gap—
'So, is this unknown Uchiha Sasuke's elder?'
'Maybe… he is even Uchiha Sasuke's father?'
Because half of Obito's face was disfigured, and having wandered the ninja world for over ten years left his heart deeply scarred, his outward appearance looked even older than his actual age, indeed resembling someone from Sasuke's father's generation.
At that moment, a story began to form in Hiruzen's mind…
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